Public and commercial buildings are required by law in most jurisdictions to have illuminated signs posted at all emergency exits and/or contiguous to other emergency objects such as fire extinguishers and the like. The signs serve an efficacious purpose both in the event of an emergency and also as a daily reminder of what to do in the event an emergency occurs. In general, these illuminated signs are heavy duty industrial products energized at line voltage, e.g., 110 volts, and are not within the economic range of expenditures for individual residences and homeowners, either in initial cost or cost of operation.
Residential smoke and fire detectors, same of which are equipped with emergency beacons or lights, are available at economically reasonable cost, but the same are energized only in the event of actual fire, and even if equipped with a beacon or light illuminate only the area in which the detector is installed, not the paths of emergency egress from the residence. Thus, these devices do not serve the efficacious purposes of commercial enterprise emergency lights, either as a daily reminder or in the event of actual emergency. Especially at night, when bedroom doors are closed, a beacon in the hallway will not aid a person behind the closed door. In an emergency, such as awakening in a smoke filled room or with a smoke alarm sounding, many people, especially the very young and very old, can become agitated, confused, disorganized and lost, thus endangering the safety and welfare of themselves and others.